PCB anti-corruption unit catches Bangladeshi bookie

SHARJAH: Pakistan Cricket Board’s anti-corruption unit has caught a Bangladeshi bookie, sources said on Friday, as the first attack on Pakistan Super League (PSL) by bookies has been handled properly.

A source said that the detained Bangladeshi national, Umar, had tried to contact Pakistani and foreign players — apparently those who featured in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) in November-December last year — on social media.

Another source said that Umar was involved in pitch siding — a term used for those fans who provide information to bookies on telephone from the ground stands.

Around 100 Indian bookies were arrested and expelled from stands in Dhaka and Chittagong for pitch siding during the BPL.

Pakistan Super League was rocked by a spot fixing saga last year which ended in five years bans on Islamabad openers Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif. An anti-corruption tribunal formed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently imposed a one-year ban on cricketer Shahzaib Hasan for his alleged role in the fixing scandal.

PCB has taken extra measures to handle such approaches with a security manager linked with each team in the PSL.